Palmer in front of Valsecchi after first session in Malaysia

  • Published on 23 Mar 2012 06:51
  • comments 0
  • By: Rob Veenstra
The 2012 season could not have started better for iSport’s Jolyon Palmer: the young Brit set the fastest laptime of the free practice session this morning at Sepang International Circuit with a 1:46.514. His closest rival Davide Valsecchi finished 0.1s behind.

The first free practice session of the eighth GP2 Series season opened in hot temperatures as the twenty-six drivers took to the track. Johnny Cecotto Jr was the first one out of the pitlane at the wheel of his Barwa Addax machine, but it was Valsecchi at DAMS who set the early pace in 1:48.049 – 0.2s quicker than Esteban Gutiérrez.

Palmer was the first man to dip under 1m48s, but his laptime was soon bettered by Fabio Leimer until James Calado went top. Ten minutes into the session, Luiz Razia went quickest – 0.1s ahead of the Brit. As the Arden man set his best laptime, Sector 13 was yellow flagged after Esteban Gutiérrez stopped at Turn 12 following an incident with Cecotto. As the Venezuelan tried to pass the Mexican, the two cars collided which ended Gutiérrez’ session prematurely. The incident is under investigation.

Just before mid-session, Valsecchi found some extra pace and topped the timesheets ahead of Razia and Calado. But with ten minutes left on the clock, Palmer put his head down and broke the 1m47s barrier, setting the best laptime of the session, a clear 0.4s ahead of Valsecchi. The DAMS driver gave it another try and although he too dipped under 1m47s he was not fast enough to edge the Brit out of P1. At the chequered flag, Max Chilton made his way up to P3 ahead of Giedo van der Garde, Fabio Onidi, Felipe Nasr, Razia, Calado, Stefano Coletti and Josef Kral.

Replies (0)

Login to reply

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2024

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
29 - Mar 2
Bahrain
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia
22 - Mar 24
Australia
5 - Apr 7
Japan
19 - Apr 21
China
3 - May 5
United States of America
17 - May 19
Italy
24 - May 26
Monaco
7 - Jun 9
Canada
21 - Jun 23
Spain
28 - Jun 30
Austria
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom
19 - Jul 21
Hungary
26 - Jul 28
Belgium
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands
30 - Sep 1
Italy
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan
20 - Sep 22
Singapore
18 - Oct 20
United States of America
25 - Oct 27
Mexico
1 - Nov 3
Brazil
22 - Nov 24
United States of America
29 - Dec 1
Qatar
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
29 - Mar 2
7 - Mar 9
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
22 - Mar 24
Australia Albert Park
5 - Apr 7
19 - Apr 21
3 - May 5
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
17 - May 19
24 - May 26
Monaco Monte Carlo
7 - Jun 9
21 - Jun 23
28 - Jun 30
Austria Red Bull Ring
5 - Jul 7
United Kingdom Silverstone
19 - Jul 21
Hungary Hungaroring
26 - Jul 28
23 - Aug 25
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
30 - Sep 1
Italy Monza
13 - Sep 15
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
20 - Sep 22
18 - Oct 20
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
25 - Oct 27
1 - Nov 3
Brazil Interlagos
22 - Nov 24
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
29 - Dec 1
6 - Dec 8
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team -
  • Points -
  • Podiums -
  • Grand Prix -
  • Country BR
  • Date of b. Aug 21 1992 (32)
  • Place of b. Brasilia, BR
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.75 m
Show full profile

Team profile

  • comments 2,208 comments on DAMS
  • star 1 members have this team as their favourite
  • vote Tweets about DAMS
Show full profile
show sidebar